Andrena (Taeniandrena) gredana Warncke, 1975

Wood, Thomas J., Ghisbain, Guillaume, Michez, Denis & Praz, Christophe J., 2021, Revisions to the faunas of Andrena of the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco with the descriptions of four new species (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 758, pp. 147-193 : 153-156

Andrena (Taeniandrena) gredana Warncke, 1975 stat. nov.

Figs 3–8

Andrena gelriae gredana Warncke, 1975a: 310 ( Spain, Sierra de Guadarrama, ♂).

Material examined

Holotype SPAIN • ♂; Sierra de Guadarrama ; Dusmet leg.; OÖLM.

Other material

PORTUGAL • 2 ♀♀; Minho , Ruivães , N103; 12 May 2019; Wood leg.; TJWC • 1 ♀; Minho, Bastelo , Várzea Cova ; 14 May 2019; Wood leg.; TJWC .

SPAIN • 21 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; Ávila, Sierra de Gredos , La Plataforma ; 1700 m a.s.l.; 19 May 1995; H. and J.E. Wiering leg.; NMNL (illustrated Figs 4–8 ) • 1 ♂; Ávila , 2 km E of Hoyos Del Espino; 22 May 1995; H. and J.E. Wiering leg.; NMNL • 2 ♂♂; Ávila, Hoyos del Espino ; 1400 m a.s.l.; 20–22 May 1995; H. and J.E. Wiering leg.; NMNL • 1 ♀; Madrid, Alto de los Leones ; 22 May 1979; H. Teunissen leg.; NMNL • 1 ♂; Huesca , San Juan de la Peña ; 14 May 1995; H. and J.E. Wiering leg.; NMNL .

Literature records ( Warncke 1976)

PORTUGAL: Coimbra. SPAIN: Ávila, Puerto del Pico; Pontevedra, Tuy; León, Puerto de Leitariegos; Segovia, San Rafael; Segovia, Valsain; Cáceres, Banos; Madrid, Cercedilla; Madrid, El Escorial; Madrid, Ribas de Jarama.

Remarks

Identification of female material from species close to A. gelriae is highly challenging without access to confidently determined comparative material. In Iberia, female A. gredana can be recognised by the dense punctures of the base of T2 (smooth to weakly and sparsely punctate in A. similis Smith, 1853 ),

faint punctures on the disc of T1 (strongly punctate in A. wilkella (Kirby, 1802)) , fore part of clypeus shiny ( Fig. 5 ), contrasting the central and basal areas which are dull (uniformly dull in other species), the sculpturing of the scutum ( Fig. 6 ), which is shagreened but centrally has a circular area where the shagreenation is comparatively weaker when viewed dorsolaterally (other species uniformly shagreened or with a clearly shiny central circular area), and the comparatively wide hair bands on the terga ( Fig. 7 ) that are complete on T2+3+4 (either much thinner, or not complete on T2 and/or T3),

Males are significantly easier to identify, and can initially be recognised by the length ratios of the antennal segments, being part of the group where A3 is equal to A 4 in length. In this group, the genitalia of A. gredana are highly distinctive, showing gonocoxa that diverge only slightly at their apexes, and with a penis valve that is clearly narrowed basally and widened to its maximum width centrally before tapering to its apex ( Fig. 8 ). This character allows separation from all other Iberian Taeniandrena . In fact, molecular data shows that this taxon is not closely allied to A. gelriae ( Fig. 1 ), and the divergent structure of the penis valve would support this conclusion when compared to the species allied to A. gelriae ( Figs 9–11 ). Given these differences and its phylogenetic placement, A. gredana is formally raised to species status.

Distribution

Central and northern Spain and Portugal ( Warncke 1976; Fig. 3 ). The distribution in Iberia is montane, and it may also occur in the French Pyrenees (see record from Huesca Province; Fig. 3 ), but no specimens have yet been reported from this region.

Figures

Fig. 3.Distribution of Andrena (Taeniandrena) benoisti Wood & Prazsp. nov. [blue dots], A. (T.) wilkella (Kirby, 1802) [black dots], A. (T.) gredana Warncke, 1975 stat. nov. [red dots], and A. (T.) levante Wood & Praz sp. nov. [green dots] in Iberia. Not to scale.

Figs 4–11. 4–8. Andrena gredana Warncke, 1975 stat. nov. (TJWC). 4. Female profile. 5. Female face. 6. Female scutum. 7. Female terga. 8. Male genitalia. 9. Andrena gelriae van der Vecht, 1927, male genitalia. 10. Andrena levante Wood & Praz sp. nov., male genitalia. 11. Andrena intermedia Thomson, 1870, male genitalia. Not to scale.

Fig. 1. Molecular phylogeny of the subgenus Taeniandrena Hedicke, 1933 with a focus on West Mediterranean species. Maximum clade credibility tree found in Bayesian analyses of sequence data of the mitochondrial gene COI; numbers above branches indicate posterior probabilities; values below 0.5 are omitted.